If you're the kind of viewer that needs everything explained, this is probably not a movie for you.

By Ed Symkus/For The Patriot Ledger

A major plot point in “Colossal” involves the fact that all wars around the world have ceased. That in itself would make for a pretty interesting movie. But this one has more to lean on. It’s a comedy-drama about people with personality disorders including alcoholism, low self-esteem, and hunger for power. Hold on, there’s something else in there. Oh, right, it’s also about giant monsters wreaking havoc in Seoul, South Korea, and how they might be cosmically connected to the film’s two main protagonists in suburban America.

If you haven’t seen any trailers for this very strange movie, don’t start now. Far too much of its nuttiness is given away in the previews, and those left field, unexpected jolts in the story are what make it such an unabashed pleasure to watch. None of its disparate pieces should fit together, but they all do, and the result is one heck of an original movie from director Nacho Vigalondo.

Gloria (Anne Hathaway, in a role as far from anything else she’s played as she can get) is having a tough time in the big city. She’s got a good job, writing for an Internet magazine, but she’s also got a drinking problem and a boyfriend (Dan Stevens) who’s tired of her being “out of control,” and “a mess.” When he packs her bags and tells her to go away, she’s dumbfounded and speechless, but she takes the hint.

With a goal of straightening herself out, she returns to the little town she grew up in but abandoned years ago, and moves into her parents’ now-empty house, furnishing it with only a blow-up mattress.

She almost immediately crosses paths with her childhood pal Oscar (Jason Sudeikis, also exploring new territory as an actor), a townie who’s never been able to get away, and now runs his dad’s old bar. Both Gloria and Oscar like to drink, but he has it under control while she doesn’t. Yet all seems to be OK, as Gloria actually does start to calm down while hanging out with Oscar and a couple of his friends, Joel (Austin Stowell) and Garth (Tim Blake Nelson).

Then she gets a phone call and learns that Seoul is under attack by a Godzilla-like creature, and soon she and the rest of the world are watching footage on computers and TVs, everyone agreeing, even if they don’t say it, that this is what reality television should be like. Yet there’s something off about this supposed attack. Yes, the creature is wreaking havoc, but it really just appears to be lumbering around and knocking things down because it’s clumsy.

Besides, there’s still Gloria and her struggles with alcohol back home, where she is passing out on park benches or falling asleep sitting on the floor or having blackouts that eliminate any memory of discussions she had with Oscar the night before.

And then it is back to the incidents in South Korea, where the creature is now just making lots of hand gestures and scratching the top of its head . . . . kind of like the way Gloria regularly scratches her own head, a habit that she refers to as a nervous tick.

Surprise! A giant robot appears in Seoul, and is not getting along very well with the huge creature. And the attention back home shifts to Oscar who, now drinking more than he did before, reveals that he’s sick of being stuck in that town and is jealous that Gloria got away and made something of herself. And, hold on, isn’t the robot doing some of the same things Oscar is doing? Perhaps simply labeling this film an original isn’t doing it enough justice. The oddness factor keeps multiplying, the monster effects are pretty impressive, and there’s no way to figure out what anyone (or anything) is capable of or will do next. If you’re the kind of viewer that needs everything explained, this is probably not a movie for you. But it’s such a weird ride, there’s really no need for explanations.